170 JOBS ARE expected to be lost at a factory in Longford Town, it emerged this evening.
The Cameron Ireland plant in the town is set to shed the jobs between now and Christmas.
Rumours regarding the losses had been rife in the area for several days according to local Social Democrats councillor Gerry Warnock, before plant bosses met with employees this afternoon. “It’s a devastating blow for Longford and the county, but most especially the employees and their families,” he said.
It’s the worst possible time of the year for this as well, coming up to the Christmas season.
A statement from the company said: “the oil and gas industry is going through the most severe downturn of the past 30 years with operators significantly reducing their investment,” according to a report in the Longford Leader.
“It is with great regret that we advised our employees today that potentially manufacturing, assembly and test activities in Longford would cease during 2017,” the statement said, before adding that the losses are “only a proposal at this stage”.
Cameron is an international provider of compression systems for the oil and gas industries. It has had a factory in Longford since 1978.
“It’s more than a suggestion at this stage,” Warnock told TheJournal.ie. “The executive met with employees today and 170 jobs are to go it seems.”
There were a number of redundancies earlier in the year which we had hoped would stabilise the plant, but this appears to be a commercial decision. A cursory Google search will show you the plant is profitable.
Warnock added that there are suggestions the plant’s workings will continue at another location in Romania.
He reserved strong words for the IDA who he claims have “failed” the Longford community.
“They are the agency who are tasked with bringing foreign direct investment (FDI) here, but for the last number of years they have totally ignored Longford,” he said.
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